Indonesia fires threaten critically endangered orangutan: IUCN

Indonesia fires threaten critically endangered orangutan: IUCN Andrew Zinin Chief Editor Wildfires that tore through Indonesian Borneo's vast tropical forests have increased pressure on critically endangered Bornean orangutans, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said Saturday. Indonesia has been battling fires for weeks in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, sending suffocating haze across the islands and neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. Fires are burning in habitats containing 52% of Borneo's orangutan population, including 13 of the 20 largest remaining populations, the IUCN said. "Fire and smoke exposure impose measurable physiological, behavioral and ecological costs on orangutans in peat forest habitats," the conservation network said. During haze, orangutans show signs of fat breakdown despite eating and resting more, suggesting higher energy demands, likely because their immune systems are working harder, it said. Wildfires have also been reported in the habitats of five gibbon species across Sumatra and Borneo, the conservation network said. "Gibbons breathe the same smoke-laden air as the people living alongside them, and there is every reason to expect they suffer similar respiratory harm, on top of habitat loss and disruption to the behaviors that keep wild populations viable." As of Tuesday, Indonesia had rescued 100 animals, including 53 orangutans, threatened by the blazes, a forestry ministry spokesman said. Conservationists are calling on authorities to go beyond the initial response and implement prevention measures. "Emergency response must be followed by sustained investment in preventing future fires," Ronna Saab of Forum Konservasi Orangutan Indonesia (FORINA) said in a statement. Those measures include "protecting and rewetting peatlands, addressing drainage and deforestation, and ensuring burned forests are protected from subsequent conversion and appropriately restored," Saab said. The Indonesian government said more than 202,000 hectares (499,000 acres) of land burned countrywide between January and July, the latest period for which data is available. The Nusantara Atlas project put the figure closer to 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) between January and August. © 2026 AFP